PHILADELPHIA — Shane Victorino slapped his hands together after rounding first base, pumped his fist and braced himself for a beating.

A game-ending hit can be a painful experience sometimes.

Victorino's two-out RBI single in the ninth inning lifted the Philadelphia Phillies over the New York Mets, 3-2, last night.

Duaner Sanchez (3-1) retired the first two batters before Pedro Feliz doubled to left field. Victorino followed with a liner to right on a 1-2 pitch to score Feliz and send a sellout crowd into a frenzy.

The dugout emptied quickly and swarmed Victorino, a Maui native.

"(Kyle) Kendrick got me a few times, so he better watch out next time I have a chance to get him," Victorino said. "It felt good to get the win."

The NL East-leading Phillies overcame a 2-0 fifth inning deficit to win four straight after losing 13 of 18.

Brad Lidge (2-0) pitched a perfect ninth and Philadelphia's stellar bullpen tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings. Chad Durbin retired the seven batters he faced, striking out six, after replacing starter J.A. Happ in the fifth. Ryan Madson threw a scoreless eighth.

Johan Santana again had nothing to show for a strong outing. Santana gave up two runs and six hits in eight innings. The two-time AL Cy Young Award winner is 0-4 in his last six starts despite a 2.48 ERA in that span.

Santana threw just 95 pitches and wouldn't have minded staying in to pitch the ninth.

"I'm not trying to be a hero," he said. "I guess things didn't turn out good."

The Mets fell 5 1/2 games behind the Phillies, though both teams know that's a short lead in July.Cubs 2, Cardinals 1: Carlos Zambrano (9-3) came off the 15-day disabled list from a shoulder strain with six spotless innings to lead visiting Chicago in the opener of a three-game series matching the NL's top two teams at St. Louis. Kosuke Fukudome homered in the first inning and Geovany Soto connected in the fourth for the Cubs. Albert Pujols hit his 300th homer for St. Louis.

ROCKIES 18, MARLINS 17

Colorado homered six times and beat visiting Florida after trailing by nine runs in the biggest comeback in Rockies history. Garrett Atkins, who had a career-best five hits, drove in the tying run off Kevin Gregg (6-4) in the ninth inning, and Chris Iannetta singled home the winning run.

BREWERS 9, PIRATES 1

J.J. Hardy and Bill Hall hit two-run homers, and Ben Sheets (10-2) stranded eight runners in the first five innings, allowing one run and eight hits before departing with two outs in the sixth as host Milwaukee beat Pittsburgh.

REDS 3, NATIONALS 0

Ken Griffey Jr. hit a first-inning, two-run drive off Jason Bergmann (1-6) for his 11th homer and 604th of his career, and Bronson Arroyo (6-7) gave up five hits in six innings to lead host Cincinnati over Washington.

DODGERS 10, GIANTS 7

Andre Ethier homered and hit a go-ahead two-run double in the sixth, Derek Lowe (6-8) won for the first time in three starts, allowing four earned runs in five innings, and Los Angeles beat host San Francisco.

BRAVES 6, ASTROS 2

Jason Perry hit a run-scoring triple in his first major league at-bat, Tim Hudson (9-6) gave up four hits and one run in seven innings and host Atlanta ended a five-game losing streak by beating Houston.

PADRES 5, DIAMONDBACKS 1

Cha Seung Baek (2-3) threw six shutout innings, and San Diego beat host Arizona to drop the NL West leaders below .500. Arizona (43-44) saw its lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers slip to a half-game, its narrowest margin since April 7.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RED SOX 6, YANKEES 4

Mike Lowell hit a go-ahead, three-run homer two innings after Kevin Youkilis' shot squirted out of Johnny Damon's glove, bounced off the top of the left-field wall three times, and sat on the fence for several tantalizing seconds as Boston rallied to beat host New York. Youkilis' ball rolled back to the field for a tying, two-run triple in the third inning. Damon bruised and sprained his left shoulder on Youkilis' triple and left the game. Josh Beckett (8-5) recovered from a three-run first inning and Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for his 25th save, completing a six-hitter.

ATHLETICS 7, WHITE SOX 1

Jack Cust hit a two-run homer, Emil Brown and Wes Bankston both had three hits, and Joe Blanton (5-11) allowed one run and six hits over seven innings to lead Oakland over host Chicago.

TWINS 12, INDIANS 3

Delmon Young hit a three-run homer and finished with a season-high four RBIs, and Livan Hernandez (9-5) allowed home runs to Kelly Shoppach and Ben Francisco, but held Cleveland to three runs and five hits over six innings for host Minnesota.

MARINERS 4, TIGERS 1

Raul Ibanez clanged a solo home run off the windows of a restaurant in right field, Jose Lopez added a two-run double and a pair of Seattle relievers turned in four shutout innings to back starter Erik Bedard (6-4).

ORIOLES 10, RANGERS 4

Freddie Bynum tied a career high with three RBIs, Adam Jones and Brandon Fahey both drove in two runs, and host Baltimore roughed up 10-game winner Vicente Padilla (10-5), who allowed eight runs in 2 2/3 innings.

RAYS 11, ROYALS 2

Edwin Jackson (5-6) took a two-hitter into the eighth inning and Carlos Pena homered and drove in five runs to help AL East-leading Tampa Bay win its fifth straight by beating visiting Kansas City.

ANGELS 8, BLUE JAYS 2

Howie Kendrick drove in three runs, Jered Weaver (8-8) allowed two runs and six hits in 7 1/3 innings, and host Los Angeles got homers from Torii Hunter and Garret Anderson to beat Toronto.